KUALA LUMPUR: A group of researchers is embarking on a clinical
trial on breast-cancer patients to find out if the vitamin E
extracted from palm oil is an effective anti-cancer agent.

The research is led by Professor Yip Cheng Har and her team of
researchers at University of Malaya Medical Centre, together with
Associate Professor Nur Aishah Mohd Taib, and in collaboration with
Dr Kalanithi Nesaretnam and her team of scientists at the Malaysian
Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

Vitamin E is an essential nutrient for the body and is made up of
four variants of tocopherols and another four called tocotrienols.

Tocopherols are sourced from oilseeds such as soya oil, canola
and sunflower, while tocotrienols are only found in abundance in
palm oil and rice bran oil.

The majority of research on vitamin E has been focused on alpha-
tocopherol, which is the vitamin E widely used as a supplement in
the market now.

But Malaysian researchers, chiefly from MPOB, have been studying
palm tocotrienols since the 1980s and their research into the
medical effects of tocotrienols, which focused mainly on breast
cancer, has showed promising results in breast cancer cell lines and
in animals.

And recently, studies in the laboratory on the different variants
or isomers of the tocotrienol (alpha, beta, gamma and delta), showed
that the gamma and delta forms in particular, seems more potent as
an anti-cancer agent.

"However, just because a product works in cancer cells and in
animals, it does not mean that it will work in human, since a human
is more complex," said Nur Aishah.

But the studies are promising enough to warrant a clinical trial
on human subjects on the full effects and efficacy of the gamma-
delta tocotrienols (GDT).

"We want to assess whether the GDT has any significant side
effects and if it has an anti-cancer effect.

"We are doing this study on women with advanced breast cancer,
who have no other options of treatment, that is, they have no more
chemotherapy to take, or they have refused any further treatment,"
said Nur Aishah.

The study, which is yet to take off, pending the recruitment of
volunteers, has received a research grant of RM2 million from the
Performance Management and Delivery Unit last November, to be
disbursed through MPOB.

The clinical trial is expected to be completed in five years and
some 300 volunteers will be needed.

"If the trial shows that GDT has a significant anti-cancer effect
in women with advanced breast cancer, it will benefit these women
who may not be suitable for more rigorous therapies like
chemotherapy. We will continue to test this drug in another
situation, perhaps as adjuvant therapy (follow-up therapy) in women
after the treatment for breast cancer," she added.

Tocotrienols have been stirring quite a rage of interest in the
scientific community in recent years. Today, it accounts for nearly
30 per cent of all research in vitamin E.

Malaysia is the world's biggest tocotrienol producer and
exporter. A kilogramme of palm oil vitamin E retails at US$500
(RM1,500).

Annually, Malaysia exports some RM50 million worth of palm oil
health supplements to Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan.